Dental plate brush



March 15, 1949. v, KQNCZAL 2,464,321

DENTAL PLATE BRUSH Filed 001:. 24, 1944 My. 6% ig d;

HTTORN EY- Patented Mar. 15, 1949 UNITED STATES ATENT QFFICE DENTALPLATE BRUSH Harry V. iionczal, Detroit, Mich.

Application October 24, 1944, Serial No. 560,103

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a brush for the cleaning of dental plates andhas for its object to provide such a device capable of easy manipulationin a natural manner by the user, more particularly with regard to thebrushing of the inner concave surfaces of dental plates which are moreor less difficult to reach with brushes as, ordinarily constructed forthat purpose, especially in view of the manner in which such brushes areusually required to be held.

The present invention contemplates a brush of a semi-circular charactercapable of being so held that the fingers of the operator will grasp ina natural manner a handle extending radially from the brush, while thethumb of the operator will be accommodated at or near the axis of thesemi-circular brush to act as a pivot about which the said handle ismoved to provide for the oscillation of the brush about such pivotalpoint and the cleaning of the inner surfaces of a dental plate therebyfacilitated with firm and untiring control of the movements of thebrush.

Still further, the said invention provides for hooked or looped means atthe extremity of the handle for engaging the outer edge of the hand ofthe operator whereby leverage of the hand in oscillating the brush aboutthe pivotal point is efiectively applied in both directions of rotationof the brush and with a minimum of effort on the part of the user, thesaid hook or loop further serving to prevent tilting of the brush aboutthe longitudinal axis of the handle from its desired plane of operation.

Still further objects or advantages additional or subsidiary to theaforesaid objects, or resulting from the construction or operation ofthe invention as it may be carried into effect, will become apparent asthe said invention is hereinafter further disclosed.

In carrying the said invention into effect, I may provide a handle witha semi-circular portion extending downwardly from one end thereof andequipped with radially disposed bristles forming a brush, saidsemi-circular portion having a depression in its face for theaccommodation of the ball of the thumb of the user, and a looped orhooked portion at the opposite end of the handle to receive the outeredge of the hand of the user grasping the said handle. All of which ismore particularly described and ascertained hereinafter, by way ofexample, having reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is an elevation of a dental plate brush embodying the saidinvention;

Eigure 2 is a plan of under side of the same; an-

Figure 3 is a cross section taken on a, plane indicated by the line 3-3in Figure 1.

Similar characters of reference indicate several parts in the severalfigures of thedrawing,

An elongated handle i0 is shown terminating; at one end in a downwardlyprojecting semi,- circular thumb piece H which I prefer to recess, as at[2, for the easy resting'of the ball of a users thumb therein.Accordingly the thumb of a user grasping the handle ll) of the devicewould rest in the proximity of the center of the said semi-circularthumb piece H.

At the other end of the said handle i0 an upwardly bent hooked portion13 is shown which, it will be obvious, may receive and form a rest forthe outer edge of the hand grasping the said handle, operate to preventthe turning of the handle in the hand, and also operate to facilitatemovement of the handle by the hand about the pivotal point of the thumbresting on the said thumb piece H.

Attached in any suitable manner to the arcuate periphery of the saidthumb piece H are bristles M forming a semi-circular brush, well adaptedto the cleaning of the inner surfaces of a dental plate by theoscillation of such brush within the plate and about the focal point ofthe said bristles. While such arcuate brushes have long been utilizedfor similar cleaning purposes, the method of holding and operating themhas been awkward and more or less inefficient, thus placing an unnaturalstrain on the muscles of the hand and fingers of the operator and alsoin many cases having a tendency to tilt the brush one way or the otherfrom the desired plane of oscillation.

Such undesirable features are entirely avoided with a brush embodyingthe invention of applicant, wherein the engagement of the thumb of theuser with the thumb piece at a point proximate to the focal point of thebristles permits the said brush to be readily operated about the ball ofthe thumb as a pivot by the hand grasping the handle it. Firm control ofthis operation is insured by the engagement of the outer edge of thehand in the loop 13 of the handle, resulting in effective leverage beingapplied in both directions of movement of the hand in oscillating thebrush as desired; and, as this engagement of the loop 5 with the handalso prevents any tendency of a handle to twist within the hand, thegrasp of the fingers on the handle need be quite light and thereforemuch less tiresome than would otherwise be the case.

It will be readily recognized that by suitably forming the surfaces ofthe thumb piece H as by providing thumb recesses 12 on both sidesthereof the device will be equally applicable for use by bothright-handed and left-handed persons with equal efliciency.

['5 illustrates bristles forming a substantially straight brush on theupper side of that end of the handle provided with the thumb piece II,the provision of this brush being for use in cleaning the outer portionsof the plate and simply constitutes a refinement and is not an essentialpart of the present invention; and I6 indicates a pointed portion formedon the end of the looped portion l3 of the handle, which pointed portionmay be used for the purpose of dislodging stubborn foreign material fromthe crevices between the teeth when this is considered necessary ordesirable.

This invention may be developed within the scope of the following claimswithout departing from the essential features of the said invention, andit is desired that the specification and drawing be read as being merelyillustrative of a practical embodiment of the said invention and not ina strictly limiting sense.

What I claim is:

1. In a device of the class described, an elongated handle to be graspedsolely by the fingers of the user, a thumb rest at one end of saidhandle, a bent over portion at the other end of said handle to receiveand embrace the outer edge of the hand of a user, and bristles extendingradially from said thumb rest to form an arcuate brush, as and for thepurposes specified.

2. In a device of the class described, an elongated handle to be graspedsolely by the fingers of the user, a semi-circular thumb piece extendinglaterally from one end of said handle to provide a fulcrum point for thethumb, bristles extending from the periphery of said thumb piece to forman arcuate brush, the other end of said handle being bent in an oppositedirection to said thumb piece to receive and embrace the outer edge ofthe hand of a user, as and for the purposes specified.

HARRY V. KONCZAL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,476,579 Barnes Dec. 4, 19232,129,306 Mitton Aug. 6, 1938

